"Home Shop Welding 101"

[gearedloco]

Don't try this at home...or anywhere!

Hola! I need time to get some stuff together.... and still getting good ideas from here.
Today is crazy.. got a welding job in a few hours ago. Still haven't touched it. There's three hornet nests in and around the old trailer the guy drug in for me to do some work on. He got the crap stung out of himself here. I ran out of hi pressure wasp spray so I'm waiting til the missus brings home some more.
I'd fry the little buggers out with the Tiger torch but this trailer is full of diesel fuel and other assorted flammables.

Yeah - had a little shed in the back of the lot where I did some tinkering. Bunch of wasps came in one day and decided to take over. Didn't have any real bug spray on hand so I tried WD-40 . Man, did that ever piss 'em off! I don't know how I beat 'em to the cement pond, but I did.

[torker]

Well this one is going to be fun. I checked for the nests in the dark last nite. they are up inbetween the sides of the trailer where I couldn't spray. Might have to risk the tiger torch yet.

[lazlo]

if you heat a piece up with a welding tip and when it's all good and red then turn more oxy to the flame it will cut the piece like a cutting torch. That is, if your a smooth operator.

Carl.. LOL! another one I've never heard of..it makes sense tho.

I've removed a broken tap that way: use the smallest welding tip you have (a 0 or 00), heat the broken tap in the blind hole until it's cherry red, and then turn the oxygen way up. The tap will disintegrate.

[Evan]

Hey Russ,

I have a question for you. I have my little Miller 135, a roll of .025 aluminum mig wire and a 14.5 cubic foot tank of helium meant for balloons. I have checked and the helium is pure helium, not diluted (based on lift). What's my chance of doing a little aluminum welding without a spool gun and using a jury rigged flow meter? What flow rate would I use?

[torker]

When in doubt... use 20 CFH. Really you could use prolly 12 CFH to 15 CFH with that little wire.

[Evan]

OK, thanks. I'll give it a try soon. If anything turns out I'll post a pic for a critique.

[bhjones]

Aluminum is a sponge that'll soak up the heat and 135 amps is pretty light. I hope your welding thin material. Preheating will help if your wire will feed. Personally I was never able to get consistent wire feeding through my 175+ Lincoln, even using the alum liner and feed rolls. It would burn back to the tip or birdsnest at the feed rollers. I gave up and bought a tig welder.

OK, thanks. I'll give it a try soon. If anything turns out I'll post a pic for a critique.

[BadDog]

I was never able to get consistent wire feeding through my 175+ Lincoln, even using the alum liner and feed rolls. It would burn back to the tip or birdsnest at the feed rollers. I gave up and bought a tig welder.

He's talking about a spool gun (gonna be fun trying to hook to the 135).

What's my chance of doing a little aluminum welding without a spool gun and using a jury rigged flow meter?

Ever thought about adapting a "Ready Welder"?

[lazlo]

H I have my little Miller 135, a roll of .025 aluminum mig wire and a 14.5 cubic foot tank of helium meant for balloons. I have checked and the helium is pure helium, not diluted (based on lift).

I TIG welded aluminum with helium balloon gas (dc electrode positive), but the party gas has a ton of impurities, and the arc was very unstable. Industrial helium is much purer, which is why it's also more expensive.

[lazlo]

He's talking about a spool gun (gonna be fun trying to hook to the 135).

Russ, if you re-read Evan's post, he's saying he wants to weld aluminum without a spoolgun. Like bhjones says, MIG'ing aluminum is pretty dicey without a push-pull gun, even if you replace the rollers and use teflon liners.

It helps a lot if you use 5356, and keep the lead as absolutely straight as possible.

[torker]

All bad gas jokes aside.. I wouldn't bet too much money that Evan couldn't make this work..

[BadDog]

Russ, if you re-read Evan's post, he's saying he wants to weld aluminum without a spoolgun.

Oops! I read it AND quoted it without registering the "out"... <sigh> Back to my hole under a rock...

[lazlo]

All bad gas jokes aside.. I wouldn't bet too much money that Evan couldn't make this work..

Yeah, but you know Evan -- he's going to say it worked no matter what

Seriously, the problem I had was with the crap in the cheap party gas contaminating the TIG electrode. But since the electrode on MIG is consumable (i.e., the wire is feeding out) he'll probably be fine. If it's anything like the balloon gas I got in Austin, he'll get a lot of arc flashing and chemical contamination in the weld, but he's not doing aerospace stuff

[torker]

Here's one for you..."Problems from our shop"...er.. i guess it's just me now...lol!
Guy brings in this ugly old homemade trailer.. I "strongly" suggested maybe i reweld some of the more critical welds... can any one spot why...lol!


Oh boy.. the deeper you dig...
See the blue spots? That's where someone just "slopped" weld on...there is no fusion under the blue spots..

Notice the little wee blue spot and several small inclusions. This was just plain ugly about halfway down...still needs a little more grinding

[lazlo]

Guy brings in this ugly old homemade trailer.. I "strongly" suggested maybe i reweld some of the more critical welds... can any one spot why...lol!

You're just being too picky Russ -- you're not doing aerospace welds you know...

There's a professional welder in town likes to say "anyone with a denim shirt thinks they're a welder"